Tag Archives: Retail

Trading Places: our Town and Country Planning Columns

Posted on August 8, 2018 by

In 2012 Anne Findlay and I attempted to take over from Professor Cliff Guy who had provided the Trading Places columns in Town and Country Planning for 12 years.  In the subsequent 6 years we have produced 23 columns, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Academics, Alcohol, BIDS, Bill Grimsey, Bookmakers, Consumer Change, Consumers, Farm Shops, Food Retailing, Government, High Streets, Internet shopping, Mary Portas, Places, Planning, Pop-Up Shops, Proactive Planning, Rates, Resilience, Retail Change, Retail Parks, Retail Planning, Retail Policy, Social Inequality, Town & Country PLanning, Town Centre Review, Town Centres, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Damaged Goods

Posted on July 9, 2018 by

As Private Eye put it, serialised exclusively across all newspapers, this book says that Philip Green is not a nice person.  “Quelle surprise” as they may say in Croydon.  But on the other hand, Oliver Shah is the Sunday Times … Continue reading →

Posted in BHS, Employees, Finance, Government, Leadership, Legislation, Pensions, Philip Green, Politicians, Regulation, Retail Failure, Retail leadership, Shareholders, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“We’re in the Money”

Posted on May 15, 2018 by

A couple of weeks have gone by since the notion of a merger of Asda and Sainsbury began to be debated in the media.  During that time I wondered whether to add to the coverage via this blog or to … Continue reading →

Posted in Asda, Booker, CMA, Competition and Markets Authority, Consumers, Food Retailing, Government, Mergers, Policy, Retail Change, Retailers, Retailing, Sainsbury, Store Closures, Suppliers, Tesco, Wal-Mart | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

2000 and Counting

Posted on March 26, 2018 by

This just popped up in my Twitter timeline; a tweet from James Timpson, announcing that Timpson’s had just opened their 2000th store.  Now I am pretty sure that Twitter timelines reflect personality traits (hello, Cambridge Analytica, I’ll save you the … Continue reading →

Posted in Competition, Consumer Change, CVA, High Streets, Leadership, Retail Change, Retail Failure, Retailers, Service Quality, Store Closures, Timpsons, Towns, Turnaround | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Happy 50th to/from the University of Stirling

Posted on November 24, 2017 by

I’ve mentioned it a couple of times in this blog, but more often on Twitter – 2017/18 is the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the University of Stirling.  Whilst I have not been here since the start (honest), though … Continue reading →

Posted in Academics, Art, Christmas, Corporate History, Education, Heritage, History, Institute for Retail Studies, Japanese, Retail Degrees, Retail History, Retailing, Singapore, Stirling, University of Stirling | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Traditions and Ghosts in Scotland’s Shops

Posted on September 3, 2017 by

Anyone following my twitter feed (@sparks_stirling) will have encountered my fascination and interest in ghost signs. It has also been included in some musings from me and a guest contribution to this blog.  I had a previous tendency to focus … Continue reading →

Posted in Advertising, Architecture, Buildings, Edinburgh, Fife, Ghost Signs, Heritage, Historic Shops, History, Places, Retail History, Royal Mile, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Shopfronts, Streetscapes, Urban History | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Big Show (Y Sioe Fawr)

Posted on August 17, 2017 by

A few weeks ago I attended the Royal Welsh Show (Y Sioe Fawr) at Llanelwedd/Builth Wells.  For a number of years I have been to the Royal Highland Show at Ingliston and have always thought it to be a large … Continue reading →

Posted in Farmers Markets, Festivals, Food and Beverage, Food Quality, Food Retailing, Markets, Producers, Rates, Retail Economy, Retailers, Rural, Sustainability, Tax | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment